City of Blood
by fanvergentfangirl19
Summary: First story, sorry if it's bad! 6 years after the Dark War, Thalia Rosewood decides to leave the farm life she has grown up in to rejoin the Shadow world her parents' left behind. Things get complicated when she realizes a prophecy foretells that she will save or end the world through a journey she must take to find the 7 whom were born from the blood of Endarkened and Nephilim.
1. Chapter 1: Dreams

**Chapter 1**

 **Dreams**

"Are you insane?" Asked Lizzy for the tenth time.

"No. Maybe slightly," answered Thalia Rosewood..

"Thally, you got lucky. Like, really lucky, but beating a single demon doesn't mean you should go _hunting_ them!" Lizzy shouted. They were sitting in their bedroom, although since Lizzy was rarely home it was more Thalia's.

"It's in our blood. Look, they're desperate, right? And I can't just do _nothing_ , I feel…. I don't know Lizzy, but I can't sit around here any longer. You, you get to travel, and when you're here you manage to escape. But I've spent my whole life here, on a farm in the middle of nowhere, just going through the motions of life, and I feel like I need to do something more," Thalia whispered fast.

"But leaving this, it isn't the same as finding your place in the world. You would be leaving this world, forever. You couldn't talk to me, or mom or dad, or little Meggie," complained Lizzy.

That made Thalia hesitate. Her parents had chosen to leave the life of demon hunting for a reason, and Thalia was only 15. All her life she had lived on a small farm, taking care of her family and doing her job without much complaint, but her fantasies were never of being a princess rescued but the savior. The demon had wandered onto the farm two days earlier, killing half of their chickens. Thalia had taken one of her father's knives, which turned out to be a magical blade, and managed to stab it from behind. She had nearly been scratched, and she had been fighting it in the loft of their barn, almost falling over the edge, and sure she was more afraid than she'd ever been and she'd nearly died, but in those moments she felt more ALIVE than she ever had.

"I….I know Liz, but what am I supposed to do? Should I never be happy but be safe and secure? Is that what you would have me do?" Asked Thalia.

"Yes, Thally. Because you would learn to be happy. I have. You make decisions too fast. And you would regret this one the rest of your life," said Lizzy.

"No, just the opposite. I would regret staying," Thalia stated.

"If you want to go, I can't exactly stop you, but for all of our sakes, please-" begged Lizzy, before she was cut off abruptly by Meggie's sharp cry. They both jumped up from their beds, and ran to Meggie's room.

Thalia got there first, and picked Meggie up. Peering out the window, she saw her father and mother hard at work in the fields below, oblivious to their youngest daughter's cries. She stroked Meggie's pale blonde hair, humming softly.

"You see? You can't leave," said Lizzy, entering the room, "For Meggie. I'll be gone,, and Mom and Dad would never even know she was upset."

"I know. I know," Thalia whisper screamed, "I can never leave."

"I'm sorry," said Lizzy, a triumphant smile playing over her lips. She turned away, her long blonde braid flipping over her shoulder as she walked away. Thalia held Meggie for a few minutes more, then followed her.

Thalia's room was small, a little bigger than Meggie's, and smaller than her parents. The walls were painted blue, although they had faded to a gray. Thalia's bed was closer to the window, and it was covered in blankets covered in clothing and books. Her dresser had clothes spilling out of her dresser, and the top was covered in framed photos and little jars filled with random things. Hidden in a box filled with shoes under her bed under spare sheets was a large blue book, more worn and read than any other of Thalia's books. The Shadowhunter's Codex. Lizzy's side was much neater, all her blankets neatly tucked in or folded. Her dresser had photos on top as well, and trophies, as well as a neat stack of books.

Lizzy was laying down on her bed reading, and she glanced up slightly when Thalia came in. Unlike Thalia and her mother, Lizzy burned in the sun instead of tanning, so she looked as red as a lobster. She was shorter than Thalia by 2 and a half inches despite being 2 years older. They both had the same long and pale blonde hair and blue eyes, but Thalia's hair was wavy where Lizzy's was straight. You could never tell though, because they both wore their hair in a single braid down their back.

Tired, Thalia sat down on her bed, with the intention of getting up in a few minutes, but she soon fell asleep.

 _Thalia ran across a field, heading towards a small cottage, but the more she ran the farther away it got. She could hear her family calling to her in the distance, crying for help, but she couldn't see them, couldn't reach them, couldn't help them. She stumbled and fell, and when she got up she was surrounded by demons. "You are helpless and weak, silly girl," they taunted her. Thalia tried to fight, punch, kick, run anything, but she was rooted to the spot as the demons laughed and closed in on her. One lunged for her throat and-_

Thalia woke up with a start, gasping for breath. A glance at her clock told her it was a little past midnight. She tried to fall back asleep, but she couldn't. Finally, she wrote a letter. All it said was "I'm sorry. I couldn' stay. -T". She grabbed a bag and stuffed as much clothing as she could fit, her favorite books, one of her father's blades, some photos, money, her art supplies, her ipod, and her codex. She pulled on her jacket, and climbed out her window. Thalia paused but a second before jumping down the last few feet.

There was a bus stop in town, which was about a mile past her school, which was 2 miles away. There was technically a bus stop closer than that, but the bus never actually stopped there. Thalia took off in a light jog. She knew it would be a while before any of her family woke up, and even longer before the next bus arrived. Still, she felt like she had to hurry to separate herself from her life or she would be tempted to just go back. It took Thalia about 25 minutes to reach town. She sat down at the bus stop and waited for a bus to come.

Thalia woke up hours later, the sun already up, and a bus had just pulled up. She ran to get on, and paid for a ticket before settling into a seat in the far back. She took out her codex and started reading as the bus started moving.

* * *

By the time the bus reached Chicago, Thalia had listened to every song on her ipod and finished her book. She climbed off, and only a second after it pulled away realized she had no idea where the institute actually was.

She didn't have to search for long. It was not the tallest building in Chicago, but it was huge, and beautiful, like a big church. She knew it wasn't a random church because tourists weren't crowding around it to take pictures, but passing it by as though they didn't even see it. Thalia took a deep breath, and started towards it.

She climbed up the stairs with confidence, but her hand fell down when she went to ring the bell. She should leave. She couldn't abandon her family like this. No, she wanted to stay. Taking another deep breath, she rang the bell.

It was answered by a boy about her age who was still in his pjs. He yawned, and then stared at her. She felt herself blushing. It was probably still early in the morning, and they probably didn't get very many girls marking on their door at this time.

"Hullo?" She asked.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked through another yarn.

"Um…aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"I'm Luke. Luke Crossheart. What are you doing here?" Luke asked once again.

"I want you to make me a shadowhunter," demanded Thalia.

"You….what? No!" Cried Luke in confusion.

"Why not?" Thalia was truly curious.

"You can't just become a shadowhunter. Mundanes have to go to the Academy," replied Luke haughtingly.

"Mundane? In case you didn't know, nobody likes to be called ordinary!" Cried Thalia.

"Well, you are. And you still haven't told me who _you_ are," snapped Luke.

"Thalia. Thalia Rosewood." Thalia smiled at the way his eyes suddenly grew very wide.

"You better come in," he said, stepping aside to let her through.

* * *

Luke had been sleeping for the first time in days when the doorbell rang. He tried to ignore it, but when he heard no one else getting up, he groaned, and threw of his blanket.

Expecting something or someone important at these early hours, he threw open the door to find….a mundane girl. She was a few inches taller than he was, and he was tall. She had long blonde hair in a single braid down her back, and deeply tanned skin you didn't get in the city. She was staring at him with pale icy blue eyes flecked with silver and gold. Despite wearing a hello kitty t shirt and sweatpants tucked into uggs, she stood there totally confident, with only the slightest blush. Unlike Luke, who always turned beet red when he blushed, she only had a faint rosy glow.

"Hullo?" she said. He was talking on auto pilot, wondering how long it would be before she would go away so he could go back to sleep.

"Thalia. Thalia Rosewood," he distantly heard her say. And all of a sudden he knew he wouldn't be getting any more sleep.

He slammed the door shut behind her, "Wait here," he said, taking off in a jog. The Institute's hallways may confuse some people, but Luke had lived there all his life, so the hallways were familiar to him now, and he barely had to pay attention to the way he was turning. He skidded to a stop in front of the Institute co head, Lily Hollowgreen. He knocked loudly on her door, taking a few moments' to process what had just happened.

It was well known that the Rosewoods' abandoned the shadowhunter lifestyle before the Uprising, before Valentine failed to take over the Clave the first time. That was 22 years ago now. It was quite the scandal, Jonathan Rosewood running of with Alexandra Whitescar, who was already pregnant with their first child. Even when they had knocked on the door during the Mortal War and the Dark war, they had refused to help, wanting to stay and live a normal mundane life. But if their daughter was suddenly showing up on their doorstep….

The door swung open, revealing Lily, who was rubbing her green eyes. "What is it, Luke?"

"We have a visitor," he replied.

"Who? Is it Catarina again? I told her to-" Lily began.

"No…." Luke said.

"Then Marella? Ugh, what is it now?"

"It's not any warlock, or any Downworlder for that matter," cried out Luke.

"Then who-" Lily's eyes grew wide as she looked at something behind him. Illuminated by the faint light of the hallway, Thalia was approaching them.

"I told you to wait!" Exclaimed Luke.

"Are you all this rude? I got bored," replied Thalia lazily, "And you are?" She asked, pointing her attention towards Lily.

"The head of this Institute. But it should be you who is answering that question," said Lily sternly.

"So you _are_ all that rude. I'm Thalia Rosewood, and I want you to make me a shadowhunter.," demanded Thalia, looking straight into Lily's eyes.

"You're….Rosewood?"

"Yes. Is something wrong with that?"

"I….let me show you to a room. Luke, go back to bed," commanded Lily, sighing deeply.

"Finally, someone talking some sense," said Thalia, and she headed off with Lily in the opposite direction of his room. Yawning, he turned and headed back to bed.

* * *

"Chicago Institute is one of the busiest Institutes, we are much more full than most other Institutes, and although technically I am the head, everyone helps out. After some….eh….instances in the past we've divided the Institute into a girl's' wing and boys' wing, and to avoid some very awkward conversations, refrain from staying over there at night," droned on the head, who still hadn't told Thalia her name. Thalia yawned loudly. It wasn't that this wasn't all very interesting, of course it was, it was all stuff about Shadowhunters, but if she wanted a history lesson she wouldn't have left home.

Thalia was so lost in thought she bumped right into a boy. "Oof. Sorry," she said, looking up right into the amber eyes of the most handsome boy she had ever seen.

"Don't worry about it. And ignore Lily. Feel free to go anywhere in the Institute. No one but her cares," said the boy, breaking into a crooked smile and flipping his tawny hair.

"Thanks for the advice. I'm Thalia," said Thalia, smiling right back.

"I'm Kye Dragonway. Nice to meet you," Kye said, offering his hand, which Thalia shook.

"Stop it, Kye! Come on, Thalia," said Lily, glaring at Kye.

"Lil, it's perfectly fine. I'll show Thalia her room. You go catch some sleep," said Kye in a voice that could have convinced Thalia that the Earth was flat.

"Fine," Lily huffed, stalking off, and Kye smiled triumphantly, offering Thalia his arm.

"So, when did you get here?" He asked.

"Um….about 20 minutes ago," replied Thalia.

"Are you a mundane?" He asked, looking curiously at her.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'd say I was pretty extraordinary," replied Thalia cooly.

"It's just what we call people who aren't shadowhunter, downworlders, angels, or demons," explained Kye apologetically.

"Well then I have no idea. I mean technically, no, but I have grown up normally," answered Thalia.

"Oh. I could never…. I mean why would they….this life, it's hard, but wonderful. I love it. I think you will too, if you usually do stuff like show up in a hello kitty t-shirt on someone's doorstep ask to be trained. Here we are," said Kye, stopping suddenly. He pushed open the door to reveal a large room with a four poster bed with crisp white sheets and comforters, a vanity, dresser, small bedside table, and two doors, probably to a bathroom and closet. It was bigger than her room at home, and it didn't look like she was going to have to share it.

"No, I don't usually do stuff like this. Instead of asking, I just take it. Sadly, that wouldn't work in this case. Unless you guys have a way to steal knowledge. Which I'm pretty sure you don't. And thanks again," she said, smiling up at him.

"No problem. See you tomorrow," said Kye, turning away.

The second he left, Thalia flopped down on her bed, falling asleep almost instantly and for the first time ever she saved her family in her dreams.


	2. Chapter 2: Fire in Our Blood

**Chapter 2**

 **Fire in Our Blood**

Thalia was awoken by an insistent knocking on her door. Thalia threw it open to find a rather mousy girl standing there holding clothes. ''I have my own,'' Thalia said to the girl.

''No, trust me, you'll want these,'' said the girl. Thalia took them and quickly changed, tying her hair back as well. The clothes were oddly tough and stiff, but not heavy.

She went outside where the girl was still waiting. She handed her boots and started to walk. Thalia followed. She was lead through countless twists and turns until they reached a large set of double doors. The mousy girl left her at the doors, and Thalia tentatively pulled the door open. No sooner had she opened it than a knife came whizzing in her direction. On impulse, she threw her hand up and caught it less than an inch from her face. Thalia cried out in pain, dropping it, and looked around to a room of gaping faces.

''Oh shit! I'm sorry. I thought you were Kye! Are you alright?'' asked a red haired girl with golden eyes, a pointed nose, and a sharp chin, evidently the one who had thrown the knife.

''Apart from the fact that a knife almost split my head open and I have a bleeding cut in my hand? Yeah, I'm fine,'' replied Thalia.

''Who are you?'' Asked the girl.

''Thalia Rosewood,'' replied Thalia. This lead to mouths dropping down even further.

''Well, you sure have good instincts,'' said a slightly older lady. ''I'm the tutor, Eliana. I didn't know you'd be joining us.''

''No worries. Neither did I,'' said Thalia.

''Well then. I'm Lena Fairfox, and that's my twin Sofia,'' said the girl who had thrown the knife said. They looked about 14, slightly younger than Thalia herself. ''Our brother, Henry, is eating breakfast right now.''

''Nice to meet you, without a knife flying at my head,'' said Thalia.

''Yeah, sorry again,'' said Lena blushing.

''I'm Delilah Firestar,'' said a girl with light brown hair and fiery amber eyes still holding a bow, ''This is my younger sister Tess,'' she said pointing to a younger girl, maybe 12 or 13, with the same shade of brown hair, but instead of amber eyes hers were steel grey.

''We can do introductions later. But in case you do need me, once again I'm Eliana,'' said the tutor, ''Back to work!''

Suddenly the room was filled with sounds Thalia associated with battle, mixed in with bits of laughter. She stood there awkwardly, her hand still bleeding. She watched Lena move in a blur, sparring with Sofia, both of their red curls flying behind them. Thalia watch as Lena leaps into the air and knocked Sofia to the ground, pointing a concealed dagger at her throat before laughing and helping her up. They started all over again, and the way they moved was almost like a dance, done gracefully and elegantly.

''You could learn to fight like that, you know,'' said a voice beside her, who she recognize as the tutor, Eliana.

''Well, I hope so. That is why I came here,'' replied Thalia, still watching the twins fight.

''For now, watch. Meet me back here after breakfast when some of them go on patrol,'' said Eliana, moving away to help Tess, who was struggling with a long sword. Thalia watched them, amused, until she heard the doors once again open. She turned to see Kye, Luke, and two boys she didn't recognize walk in.

Actually, Kye more sauntered.

''Did we miss much?'' Asked Luke, who was glaring at Kye.

''Relax, Luke, it isn't even an official lesson,'' said one of the boys Thalia didn't recognize.

''Still, if Kye hadn't insisted that we-''began Luke angrily.

''Hey, leave Evan alone. You're mad at me, not my _parabatai_ , remember?'' Asked Kye icily. Thalia remembered reading about _parabatai_. It was like a mystical, godly sort of best friend. If EVan and Kye were parabatai, it would almost be like their two souls were connected.

''You guys gonna keep bickering all day?'' Asked Thalia, walking up to them.

''No-what happened to your hand?'' Asked Kye.

''Lena thought I was you,'' replied Thalia, frowning at him, pretending to be mad.

''Do you need an _iratze_?'' Evan asked. Seeing her blank expression, he said, ''A healing rune.''

''I don't know if that's a good idea,'' Thalia said worriedly.

'' have shadowhunter blood, it won't do anything but sting a little,'' Kye assured her.

''Fine.'' Kye took out something metal that looked like a little like a very fancy pen and grabbed her hand. He started to draw, and she watched as a black mark showed up on her skin. She bit her lip, it did sting, and then her cut was gone. She watched as the black mark faded away into a light scar.

''See?'' Said Kye, ''You're made up of shadowhunter blood through and through.''

''We call them Marks, most of the time,'' Luke informed Thalia.

''Breakfast!'' Eliana called out, and all of a sudden all of the shadowhunters were leaving the training room, leaving Thalia standing there awkwardly.

''You need someone to guide you?'' Asked a girl behind her.

''I have no idea where anything is,'' Thalia admitted.

''Here, I'll take you,'' offered the girl, who Thalia realized was Delilah, her amber eyes still alight with the fire of battle.

Thalia let herself be guided through the halls, and she wondered how anyone knew their way through the halls. As they were walking, she found herself glancing down at where her cut used to be, now an ever fading scar.

''Did someone Mark you?'' Asked Delilah.

''Yeah, to heal the knife cut,'' replied Thalia.

''You'll be a good warrior, if you could catch a knife Lena threw without any prior training,'' said Delilah, sounding slightly impressed.

''Maybe, but it burned like crazy, and the mark to heal it hurt almost as much. Can't really fight if you can't take any pain.,'' Thalia sighed.

''Pain never goes away. Suffering, however is optional. And that burning, I like to believe that's us waking up, the runes calling out to the fire that is in our blood,'' replied Delilah. ''I _love_ that burn.''

''I could tell. When you were fighting, it was like you were literally on fire,'' Thalia commented.

''Well that's 'cause I am. Can I tell you a secret?'' Asked Delilah.

''You can trust me,'' answered Thalia.

''During the Dark War, I-'' Delilah began, but stopped when she saw one of the red headed twins waiting ahead. ''I'm sorry. I'll tell you later.''

''Alright….'' Thalia replied, but Delilah had already run ahead to talk to the twin. She began to walk down the hall by herself. In only a few hours, Thalia had met 8 shadowhunters, all of whom had spent their whole lives training. And there had been even more shadowhunters in that training room. As much as Thalia wanted to stay, she couldn't help but feel like the outcast new girl. _Stop it_ , she told herself. She counted to three, and jogged to catch up with Delilah and the twin.

* * *

Lily sat at her desk, head in her hands, A shadowhunter was welcome, but a Rosewood showing up, now of all times, here of all places, How could she sheild Henry, Lena, Sofia, Delilah, and Tess when Thalia stood in their home and roamed the halls of the Chicago Institute?

It had killed her, seeing Thalia standing there with all the icy fierceness and fiery confidence of her parents, much more literally than she knew, oblivious to the storm she had just set in motion.

For now, she would to be trained. To do otherwise would be unjust and slightly insane, all the power she held would run rampant, destroying not just the Chicago Institute but the whole world in a mess of blood, ice, and fire.

Fire.

There was only one person who knew what it like to have the fire live within you, burning in your veins, blazing as bright as your eyes, thumping against your chest in time to the beat of your heart, sparking at your fingertips.

And there was only one person who knew how to control that fire.

Lily got up from her desk with a new sense of purpose. First breakfast, then she promised herself she would make the call.

* * *

Thalia caught up with Delilah at the end of the hall. The twin turned out to be Sofia, who seemed much quieter than Lena, Delilah talked enough for both of them, rattling on and on about some group of demons she had killed on her last patrol. Sofia interrupted her after a few minutes,

''Just a warning, this Institute is overflowing,'' said Sofia.

''I know. Lily was telling me-''Thalia stopped midsentence when she saw the dining room, or more accurately a banquet hall. There were 5 tables set up, each holding 8 chairs, most of which were full.

''The Silverash and Willowdust's came here after an Institute near them was attacked during the Dark War,'' explained Sofia.

''There are 11 of them total,'' intoned Delilah.

''And the Penrose's, that's Eliana's family, came here after our old tutor decided to stay in Alicante,'' added Sofia.

''Although technically, Eliana doesn't live here. Many of these families returned here after either the Mortal War or the Dark War because they felt more secure all together,'' said Delilah.

''Still, there must be like 40 of you here!'' Exclaimed Thalia.

''Which means there's a lot of food,'' replied Sofia, grabbing Delilah's arm with one hand and Thalia's with the other and dragged them to two tables pushed together at the fat end of the room with teens as young as Tess to some who looked a couple years older than Thalia. She sat down in the last empty seat which was across from Kye, and between Delilah and a willowy girl with brown curls and olive green eyes.

''I'm Zoey Willowdust. Thalia, right?'' Asked the girl, introducing herself.

''Yeah. I'm really sorry if I forget your name, there are just so many of you,'' thalia said, apologizing before it even happened.

Zoey laughed. ''Don't worry, I'm bad with names too. That's my sister over there,'' replied Zoey, pointing to a girl who looked about 12 with the same willowy frame and olive green eyes as Zoey, but with dirty blonde waves. ''Her name is Sierra.''

''I have 2 sisters too. There names are Lizzy and Meggie, They're probably furious at me right now,'' Thalia stated sadly.

''Well, hopefully some really good food will cheer you up,'' said Zoey.

And Thalia sure tried, and it eventually worked, and she managed to lose herself in the loud chatter of the the overflowing Chicago Institute.

* * *

After breakfast, Thalia wandered the hallways for awhile before managing to find the training room. When she opened the door this time, no knife came flying at her head but she was surprised to find the room far from empty. In fact, there seemed to be almost people as there were before breakfast.

''There you are!'' Cried Eliana, weaving her way through the crowd.

''Sorry, I got lost. Um….I thought this would be more private,'' replied thalia.

''Oh, don't worry. No one will pay attention to us. This time is just _parabatai_ sparring time,'' Eliana assured her.

''There are this many _parabatai_ here?'' Asked Thalia, curious.

''Well, yes, it is _parabatai_ sparring time,'' answered Eliana, ''You would probably know Kye and Evan, and Lena and Sofia. And Tess has a _parabatai_ , Eve. i saw you with Zoey, and her _parabatai_ is named Luna. And her sister Sierra had a _parabatai_ , Kira. And-'' Eliana said, listing off the _parabatai_ , but Thalia held up a hand to stop her.

''Got it. Can we start now?'' Asked Thalia.

''Right. Before anything else, you need endurance, stamina, accuracy, and at least some strength,'' began Eliana, ''We'll start with a warm up. Start jogging around the room.''

Thalia did as she was told and began to jog. She already had pretty good endurance and strength from long days on the farm, and she easily kept up a fast pace. As Thalia ran, she watched the fighters,

There were a few younger _parabatai_ fighting on their own, mostly hand to hand, but a few held blades. All of them were covered in swirling black runes. Thalia blinked. All of a sudden the meaning of the runes were clear. Strength. Sure footedness, Agility. Thalia almost ripped, but she caught her footing at her last second, and glimpsed the largest group of fighters' in the room.

The group was fighting with neither blades nor just their hands, but rather stick fighting. They were attacking each other, and defending, but seemed centered around one girl in the middle, whose black fishtail braid whipped behind her as she spun, blocking every blow, and landing even more. She seemed to know how someone would attack before even they did, and took advantage of every slight weakness. Her dark blue eyes had the fire Thalia now saw so often, a blue flame of energy, and by the time thalia finished her third lap, the girl fought against only one other, whose hair was also pitch black, and silver gray eyes had not fire, but rather icy calculation and the ashes of a burnt out flame, waiting for the phoenix to rise once again in flames and relight them. The way they fought, it was a dance, beautiful and elegant, but a violent and wild dance. Neither one bested the other, they were almost perfectly evenly matched.

''You can stop now,'' Eliana told her, ''Come watch.''

''Alright,'' Thalia agreed, walking over.

''Jasmine! Vivienne! Take a break for just one moment please,'' called put Eliana, The girls stopped and looked over. ''Jasmine and Vivienne may be the eldest here, but from what I've seen, 12 of you should be able to beat them. And that's when they're fighting against each other. As _parabatai_ , imagine them together.''

''Yes, we know, they're amazing. And….?''asked one guy.

''So, strive to be like them so we can fight demons effectively. I know you all have the potential to be that great,'' replied Eliana.

''No, we can't, because we're not all seers like Jasmine,'' added Zoey's little sister, Sierra, giving the blue eyed girl a pointed look.

''I can't tell what 12 of you will do,'' said the blue eyed girl, Jasmine.

''I bet I could beat you all without Jaz, and I'm no seer,'' said the grey eyed girl, who must have been Vivienne Thalia reasoned.

''I'd like to see you try,'' said Zoey, throwing her stick in the air and catching it with her other hand.

''I don't try. I do, or I don't,'' said Vivienne, grabbing a second stick from Jasmine. Before Thalia even processed what was happening, Kye and Evan leaped, aiming for Vivienne's head, and she blocked them both without even blinking an eye. There was something about her fighting, less wild than other shadowhunters she'd seen, and it wasn't just because of the burnt out flame in her eyes.

Thalia watched as, true to her word, Vivienne beat half of the fighters without missing a beat. Her sticks flew around her like extensions of her hand, and Thalia saw the reason her fighting looked different. She was not the most powerful, or even the fastest, but she used defense as an offensive strategy, knocking another attacker's feet out from under them when they went to attack.

Thalia watched as Vivienne beat every other opponent who dared to challenge heeer. She was fighting against the last person standing when Jasmine cried out. Vivienne's eyes only flicked over for a second, and then she continued. Then Jasmine cried out again, louder, and grabbed her head. Vivienne dropped both sticks and ran over.

''JAZ!'' she screamed as Jasmine crumpled to the floor.

''Let me take her to the infirmary,'' begged Eliana.

''My _parabatai_ , my job,'' replied Vivienne defiantly, and Thalia watched as Vivienne picked up Jasmine and carried her out of the room, leaving everyone stunned.


End file.
